Chesterfield County halts new data centers and weighs cutting car tax rate nearly in half

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — Chesterfield County leaders are drawing a firm line on data center development — and the potential payoff for residents could be a significant cut to their car taxes.

The county currently has three data center campuses in operation and three Google data center campus projects approved, one of which is now under construction. But two additional proposals have been shut down after the Board of Supervisors amended the zoning ordinance to require developers to obtain a conditional use permit, appear before the board, and go through a public hearing — eliminating the ability to build a data center by right.

Deputy County Administrator Jesse Smith said the board has made its position clear.

"The board has come out publicly and said they are not supporting any additional data centers. This is sort of what you see is what you get. This is the universe of data centers moving forward," Smith said.

The 3 approved Google projects are locked in and cannot be blocked. No new projects will be accepted.

Deputy County Administrator Matt Harris said the decision to pursue data centers was a direct response to longstanding pressure to reduce the tax burden on residents.

"They've already taken steps to block any further development in this way. They came into it, they wanted to dabble into the data centers and they wanted to add that to the mix of — you know — our economic mix, and which quite frankly before data centers that was the loudest topic. We need to shift more to the commercial payer. This is in response to years of 'how can we take this off of the residential payer?' right? That's how we got here. That can't get lost," Harris said.

Harris said the revenue expected from the data centers is substantial. Dominion Energy is currently the county's top principal taxpayer at $1.4 billion, and Harris said the 3 Google campuses could generate more than twice that amount.

"Right now Dominion is the top principle tax payer at $1.4 billion. This has a potential at all three campuses to be more than twice of what Dominion is paying," Harris said.

Google is projecting $300 million to $500 million per building once the campuses are fully operational — though it will be around 10 years before they are up and running.

Harris also addressed comparisons to Loudoun County, a Northern Virginia jurisdiction that has become the largest data center market in the world.

"We are not looking to turn into Loudoun part two by any stretch of the imagination. The scale and scope of Chesterfield and Loudoun are nowhere close," Harris said.

The Board of Supervisors meets Wednesday at 6 p.m. to consider an ordinance that could lower the car tax rate from $3.25 to $1.79 — nearly in half — funded by the revenue expected from the three approved Google data center campuses.

This is a developing story, so check back with WTVR.com for updates. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have info, photos or videos to share.